A not so relevant question: after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3?! i have heard that this is inacurate .If White wants a Catalan he should play 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 according to Aagaard but what is the specific reason?

LeeRoth wrote on 02/10/10 at 16:04:14:


I think there's a book by Purdy like that.  I'm guessing it doesn't recommend playing that way against the Stonewall, since that could set Black on the road to getting mated in 15 moves, like the sort of thing you would see in "How to Think Ahead in Chess."

I showed a group of kids a game in the Dragon yesterday (they requested it because of the cool name). When I played 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 on the screen the reaction was: "What? You mean we need White to play those exact move to even get to a Dragon?!" 

No really good Black defences can be played as a "system" the same moves against everything, though the Semi-Slav and the King's Indian/Pirc/Modern come close.

I'll mention in passing that Black does not even have to postpone ...dc4 in the position after 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3. Black can take on c4 immediately and in some variations take advantage of the absence of ...Nf6, e.g. 4.Qa4 (otherwise 4.Bg2 a6 forces 5.a4, when 5...b6!? 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Qc4 c5 is completely equal) 4...Nd7 5.Bg2 (5.Qc4 a6 6.Bg2 transposes) 5...a6 6.Qc4 (6.Nc3 Ngf6 7.0-0 c5 is comfortable for Black) 6...b5 7.Qc2 (7.Qc6 Rb8 doesn't help White much since Black will force the queen to retreat with ...Bb7) 7...Bb7 8.0-0 c5 and White hasn't found any route to even an infinitesimal edge. White can try d4 after 5.Qc4 a6 or on move 8 in the main line, but then Black will play ...c5 anyway and gain some lead in development due to White playing Qa4-c4-c2.

exigentsky wrote on 02/10/10 at 06:16:18:


The only way white can "move order black" is by approaching via 1. Nf3/2. c4/3. g3/4. Bg2 (in some order) in which case black simply replies 4...dxc4. There's some theory to learn, but it is entirely satisfactory for the second player.

Am I the only one getting the impression some black players want a system and are trying not to learn how to play chess based on the needs in each position?

There is also the ...c5 line examined in Dvoretsky's analytical manual. A line Avrukh does not cover at all!

I voted for 4...Bb4+, not because I think its best theoretically (impossible to prove but I suspect the open variation might be theoretically the best), but because it suits my style and I like the resulting positions. Also it might be more straightforward to cover in a repertoire book    Incidentally this line was also picked for Black by Kaufmann in his repertoire book Chess Advantage for Black and White. An alternative, which I have not got around to checking out properly yet, was another line Topalov tried against Kramnik, which Kramnik himself recently played against Carlsen. Given that Kramnik has to be regarded as the world authority on the Catalan maybe this is in fact the line that poses interesting theoretical problems for White: 4...dxc4 5. Bg2  Bb4+ 6. Bd2  a5

Its on my list to investigate, but for the moment I am happy to stick with 4...Bb4+ and the resulting closed positions.

Ametanoitos wrote on 02/07/10 at 11:30:35:


9. Bg5 is another option, of course there'd be a lot of minor nuances to cover as well. What I listed were just two major options that receive a lot of scrutiny at the GM level. For the record, I don't think 9. Bg5 is an improvement on 9. Rd1.

For the people worried about English move orders - 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 is fully satisfactory, but takes us outside the scope of this thread. Black just has to answer move order with move order, and not be lazy thinking he'll get to play the exact same moves all the time.

QGD players don't need to worry about 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 attempts to reach the Catalan, either, after 2...Nf6 3. g3 Bf5, etc.